When you need to send in deadly robots, holograms might be the answer. As it is right now, authorizing and targeting air strikes is a process that can be bureaucratic. Sometimes it takes lawyers, intelligence analysts, air controllers, and commanders at multiple layers to get it done.

Well DARPA has a new idea. Give the job to one guy on the ground who can control a drone or manned plane that’s circling above. A single man is low profile enough to slip into areas that need slipping into without alarming the locals and giving away his position. The soldier would use the goggles to view markers and call in airstrikes.

I see the future of the crystal ball…It is hazy…No wait. Here it is. This 3.9″ crystal ball displays a hologram type of image inside, so it would be perfect to display a company’s advertisement, but pricey.

We’re talking over the $4,000 mark. Just connect it to a DVD or video player to project footage into a new magical dimension. It can also be enjoyed at home if you are wealthy enough. Wow your friends with films, music videos and games in a whole new way. Or heck, just use it in your palm reading business.

Verizon thinks that 3D television is already so last year. The have bigger fish to fry. Like concentrating on putting holograms in our homes. Cisco is predicting that within a decade, holograms over IP will be the big hot thing. Verizon is on it.

The big V has already been experimenting with the technology over its FiOS network, with CIO Officer Shaygan Kheradpir testing a 1Gbps link in his home. It will take quite a long time to make the technology common, in all of our homes, but one day we will be ‘grammin each other left and right, like Vader and Palpatine.

3D is nothing compared to holograms. R2-D2 knew it way back in 1977 when he broadcast Leia’s message to Obi-Wan and the rest of us are just catching on. Now Japan wants to broadcast 3D holograms to stadiums all over the world for the 2022 World Cup.

They claim they will able to capture the action with 200 3D HD cameras at each game while microphones under the field would record the sound. They also assume the technology would be available for projecting 3D holograms onto the field itself, making it seem like you were watching the game in person.

The Trou Hologram cellphone has no screen, instead relying on 3D holograms projected onto the vacant area to display what you are looking at. Small projectors are lined up on the inner surface in order to bring the most lifelike images to life before your eyes.

They will have to figure out how to solve the power issues, since projectors suck a lot of energy. But one day we may just have this device in our hands fully working. That day is a long way away, but if we can envision it, we can eventually do it.

General Electric says it has achieved a breakthrough in digital storage technology that will allow standard-size discs to hold the equivalent of 100 DVDs. I had to read that twice myself. It’s just a laboratory success for now, until it can be made to work in products that can be mass-produced and affordable.

“This could be the next generation of low-cost storage,” said Richard Doherty, an analyst at Envisioneering, a technology research firm.

We all know how boring outlets and switches can be. It’s high time they got a facelift. You can do just that with these Cubic Switchplates. They make your outlets look cool and immediately level up any room.

The switch plates replace your regular boring ones. The only difference is that they have a little bit of extra material on the outside which creates the optical illusion of your outlets being in 3D. That’s the third dimension to you and me. No glasses required. No fancy hologram trickery.

Japanese cell phone maker KDDI has teamed up with Hitachi to one-up your iPhone as the iPhone can’t manage 3D content. The Hitachi WOOO H001 will show you 3D versions of your phone’s still images and video.

But that’s not all, the phone also will give you a 5 megapixel camera, Bluetooth, microSD slot, and a 1Seg TV tuner. No word on price, but the handset should hit the Asian market by spring.

Now you can enjoy 3D imaging right on your desk with this interesting holographic display ‘Holocube 3D Projection Box’. It sports an integrated HDD that stores video and uses it to create 3D Holograms at a resolution of 1080i. It won’t produce a Princess in trouble, telling you that you are her only hope. Nor will it let you talk to your Sith lord or Sith apprentice in real time.

But it is pretty awesome. It’s available in 10-inch, 15-inch, or 17-inch models, with a 40GB hard drive. The Holocube can store up to 18-hours of compressed video at 4Mb/s on its 40GB hard drive, which can then be converted into a 3D hologram. You also get an optional floor stand for easy transportation.

What might the future of flight look like? The folks at Finnair have a pretty good idea. They have five future aircraft concepts for the year 2093. As you might expect, all the aircrafts are eco-friendly and materials used in the making are 100 percent recyclable. I have to say they look awesome.

How about a zero-emission supersonic aircraft, designed for long-hauls? AV windows that offer zoomable views of the sky or the earth? How about a charter aircraft with turning engines in front that can glide and take-off vertically? Some even feature hologram theaters, restaurants, and bars, shops, a beauty parlor, a first-aid station, and gymnasiums. The future of flight is looking pretty awesome. I’d be willing to bet that most of their ideas will be realized by 2093.

If you’ve been following the election coverage, you know by now that CNN played their hologram card. Jessica Yellin appeared Live from Chicago via hologram and talked with Wolf Blitzer. She shimmered slightly around the edges, and I can’t even tell you what she was saying because my nerd brain just kept repeating, “Help me Wolf Blitzer, you are my only hope.”

The technology was as creepy as we’ve always imagined and happening in the middle of vote counts, seemed totally weird and un-necessary. I believe they said that they used something like 44 HD cameras in a ring to get her every movement, all communicating with the studio cameras as well. Hey, if we’re gonna have holograms on election night, it’s better her then a grinning Emperor Palpatine.

Why on Earth(Or any other planet) would you use a plain old peppermill when you can use a Star Wars droid? You wouldn’t, and I don’t blame you.

After a hard day, when Lando and Han have cleaned you out at the poker table, come home to a nice dinner, knowing that this little guy will spice up your food. Just twist R2’s domed head and delicious freshly ground pepper will fall from his undercarriage. Just try not to think about the fact that you are eating something that fell out of a robot’s butt. Still, if that appeals to you, make like a Jawa and get an R2D2 Peppermill at ThinkGeek for $19.99. Just be careful. You may just end up with a hologram of Princess Leia in your mashed potatoes, telling you that you are her only hope.

It was only a matter of time. In some distant future we may even have a tree full of programmable hologram ornaments. Right now there is the new USB Santa’s Slide Show Ornament. It displays up to 50 photos on a 1.5 inch color LCD screen in a red ornament. It can either be mounted on a Christmas tree or displayed on a small stand. Connect it to your PC with the usb cord and transfer photos directly into the ornament.

You aren’t limited to just displaying a single frozen image either. Create amazing slideshows. Imagine a slideshow of previous Christmas images to thrill Grandma.

If you’re looking for something new to match with your “Star Wars” bedsheets, wallpaper and pajamas and that R2-D2 soy sauce bottle we told you about isn’t good for your bedroom then here is the droid that you have been looking for.

National Console Support is releasing an R2-D2 night light projector that will give you images of “Star Wars” goodness to drift off into dreamland while watching. Running off of two AAA batteries the projector will display moving vistas of the Death Star, an X-wing spaceship and Han Solo’s Millennium Falcon on your bedroom ceiling. Best of all the projector comes in two different models: the blue R2-D2 version or a red R2-M5 version if you actually like the “Star Wars” prequels over the original movie trilogy. The little guy’s legs move too and the dome flips over to reveal the projector (you didn’t think that the hologram projector was functional did you?)

The very same company that produced the M2 Heliodisplay mid-air projector has just come out with their latest project – the new M3/M3i Heliodisplay.

This nifty thing is basically a monitor that displays images in free space, just like those holograms of Princess Lea asking Obi Wan for help. With a viewing space of 30inches and a resolution of 1024×768, the display is quite blurry and not very stable. However, with advances this particular technology should become a big thing in the near future. Currently, this will set you back a very hefty …